Behind the velvet rope that separates ESPN from the rest of the world we live in, things that happen and things that are perceived to have happened can sometimes be left to the imagination.

Arash Markazi, the former Daily News and SI.com reporter who writes the “Behind the Velvet Rope” blog for the ESPN- LosAngeles. com website, couldn’t have imagined how a recent trip to Las Vegas could blow up on him, but it did, in a grand media sort of way.

Markazi’s role for the site has been to unite Hollywood with sports, join in on the fun-fun, and make the reader be part of the obscene experience.

So when he saw that LeBron James and his people were promoting a public party at a hotel, he went. And wrote about it.

All the booze, women and dancing you’d expect, but hardly any news.

Yet it became a story out of the ordinary when, after a version of what Markazi wrote had been captured and released on various blogs and websites, it failed to run on ESPN.com.

Markazi’s story was killed, but who are the usual suspects?

It’s been an interesting process to watch from behind our viral rope.

The leap to conclude that ESPN was protecting James and his posse, in light of their recent calculated decision to join forces and present “The Decision” several weeks ago, became the starting point for most every argument about it on the Internet. All the pushback that ESPN received in the media since that fateful show, criticized on so many levels for so many reasons, left us wondering above all else: How could we trust ESPN in covering any kind of future LeBron James-generated news story?

Here’s the first acid test. ESPN spokesman Josh Krulewitz said the story was never posted on any ESPN website and then taken down. It was posted on the server and “accessible through searches only during the period it was up, (a fact) that has also been widely misunderstood,” which means it was in the process of being read and edited prior to publication. So it was somewhat snatched unauthorized.

Officially, it’s VP and editor-in-chief of ESPN Digital Media Rob King who said in a statement that the reason ESPN.com won’t post the story is that after looking into the situation “thoroughly,” they found “that Arash did not properly identify himself as a reporter or clearly state his intentions to write a story. As a result, we are not comfortable with the content, even in an edited version, because of the manner in which the story was reported.

“To be clear, the decisions to pull the prematurely published story and then not to run it were made completely by ESPN editorial staff without influence from any outside party.”

A statement attributed to Markazi was also released by ESPN: “I have been in conversations with ESPN.com‘s editors and, upon their complete review, understand their decision not to run the story. It is important to note that I stand by the accuracy of the story in its entirety, but should have been clearer in representing my intent to write about the events I observed.”

That’s a good thing. Actually, a great thing. And a smart thing. For Markazi. For ESPN.

For the future of “gotcha journalism,” the brash TMZ-ified attitude that everything is fair game when a person of some celebrity is involved.

We need editors to curb reporters’ enthusiasm to be a party crasher with a purpose – as long as there is proper ID.

Markazi had every reason to think what he did in this case was on the up-and-up. His mere presence by now at any event should tip off anyone that something could be reported.

Or should it? There are issues of etiquette and ethics that need to be followed. Apparently, it wasn’t here.

We’ll continue to be among the first to be skeptical of a decision ESPN makes in regards to the appearance of saving face, but in this case, we can’t fault the Worldwide Leader in Sports Exploitation for going about their business the right way.

It might seem like a technicality in calling out Markazi for failing to read James the sports version of his Miranda rights, but if it reminds a reporter of his responsibilities and culpability, then it’s worth not just the perception of staying above board, but actually doing it.

Not exactly a European vacation for KNX reporter Sobel

Ted Sobel’s excellent adventure in Europe last week could have been better.

“If not for getting sick, it would have been really amazing,” said the sports reporter for KFWB-AM (980) and KNX-AM (1070), whose recent working vacation included covering the semifinals and finals at Wimbledon in England, the entire British Open golf tournament in Scotland and even filing a report on the Tour de France from his hotel room in Paris during a three-week stretch.

A bad cough he picked up on the first day of his stop at Wimbledon, where he interviewed Serena Williams after her women’s title, led to him visiting a hospital in Italy about a week later, which was just two days before he flew to Scotland. Still, the trip of a sports reporter’s lifetime was worth it.

“I’d been thinking about doing this for a handful of years, and one day, after looking at the schedule, then scrambling to get the credentials, it happened,” Sobel said, gone from June 30 to July 20, using the days in between the sporting events to visit spots in Italy.

The highlight: During the wind delay in the second round of the British Open, Sobel said Phil Mickelson, who had just finished his round, took him aside to talk off the record about how upset he was about the stoppage of play. Had it continued, he could have helped him move up the leaderboard as he sat on the cut line but already played through the worst of it.

“It was just so funny how he suddenly started confiding in me for about 10 minutes, just venting,” Sobel said. “All off the record.”

Sobel paraphrased the story when he did reports to KFWB’s morning shows, giving sports anchor Bret Lewis material to work with.

This week, the Sherman Oaks resident has been filing reports at the ATP tennis event from UCLA – as well as returning to his long-time job as the court announcer and doing a play-by-play telecast that can be heard by spectators through a local radio feed. “Nothing much has changed – I’ve been non-stop ever since,” he said.

WHAT SMOKES

Can Ari Gold do what Michael Ovitz couldn’t? A storyline in the HBO series “Entourage” has reached a point where Gold (played by Jeremy Piven) is intent on bringing an NFL team to L.A., with the help of two people who are already in the “real” mix to make that happen – Casey Wasserman and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Wasserman appeared as himself on last week’s episode, summoned by Gold to pony up at least $20million and join his group. Said Gold in one scene: “I want, and everyone in this town wants, an NFL team playing in a brand-new state-of-the-art facility within five years, all right? I think with the power and the money at this table, we can get it done in three.” In real life, Wasserman has said he’d join TimLeiweke in trying to get a $1 billion stadium built near Staples Center.

WHAT CHOKES

A tweet from KSPN’s Andrew Siciliano during Tuesday’s Dodgers-Padres telecast: “I can’t believe I just heard Vin Scully say, `Dodger baseball is brought to you by “Dinner for Schmucks.”‘ Lord, help us.” Promotion of this film starring Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd, which came out today and received plenty of ad time during Fox’s recent coverage of the MLB All-Star Game, has raised more than one objection among those who of the Jewish faith who trace the origins of this word to something far more demeaning than how it is used today. What does the word “schmuck” really mean? “It is a pejorative in Yiddish,” Siciliano, who is Jewish, also tweeted. “Few know what it means. It shouldn’t be in a movie title.” And, the Dodgers, if they’re truly invested in protecting Scully’s legacy, should reconsider having him connected to anything over the air like this.

Tom Hoffarth is a freelancer. He had been with the Daily News/Southern California News Group since 1992 as a general assignment sports reporter, columnist and specialist in the sports media. He has been honored by the Associated Press for sports columnists and honored by the Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association for his career work. His favorite sportscaster of all time: Vin Scully, for professional and personal reasons. He considers watching Zenyatta win the Breeders' Cup 2009 Classic to be the most memorable sporting event he has covered in his career. Go figure that.